Declaring Ms Gillard would lead the Labor Party to victory at the next election, Senator Forshaw conceded the events of the past 24 hours had been tough

“This has been a difficult time for the Prime Minister and has been a difficult time for the party,” he said.

A visibly tired Senator Forshaw paid tribute to Mr Rudd.

“He led us to victory in 2007, a victory that was achieved when many people thought we still would be spending more years in opposition,” he said.

“That was a great achievement.

“We now have a new team and I’m looking confidently forward to the next election.”

Brand MHR Gary Gray, who according to a recent Westpoll would lose his seat despite sitting on a 6.1 per cent margin, said ahead of the poll that a change was needed to turn around the Government’s electoral chances.

“It’s necessary to have both a fresh pair of hands, fresh eyes and a different approach to the management of government,” he told ABC radio.

2009 will see the inaugural running of the Rebel Sport City to Surf for Activ Marathon.

The marathon is an opportunity to challenge yourself to achieve something very special, a reward for commitment and desire.

Whether you are simply looking for the ultimate physical challenge, or the ultimate mental challenge, thisevent has been added for you to achieve something amazing.

The Course 42.2km

The marathon course takes in the beautiful sights of Perth, Western Australia.Runners will start in the CBD and travel along the magnificent Swan River for the first 21kms before entering in to Kings Park, Perth’s number one tourist attraction, with its remarkable expanses of unique bushland and tranquil parkland.

Upon exit of the park it’s a 12km journey to one of Perth’s many stunning beaches of the Indian Ocean, City Beach, where the finish precinct will offer amazing atmosphere and support from locals and participants in other distance events.

SCORES of foreign students, suspected of using bogus documents to support permanent residency applications, have been discovered by Federal Government migration fraud investigators.

More than 60 students, whose documents were initially accepted as genuine by the Government, will be forced to leave Australia if they are unable to prove their documents are authentic.

It is the latest indication that rorting in the lucrative $15.5 billion international education industry — the nation’s third-biggest export earner — is a serious problem, which could undermine the integrity of Australia’s education and immigration systems.

The students are suspected of using fake references from employers, which claim to show they have 900 hours’ work experience in a job related to their area of study.

Foreign students are required to provide evidence of 900 hours’ work experience to support their applications for permanent residency.

Sources in the international education industry have told The Age some students pay up to $20,000 to rogue college operators or middlemen, such as unscrupulous migration agents or education agents, to obtain fake paperwork.

Trades Recognition Australia (TRA) is the body nominated by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship to assess skills, including those of foreign students. Under the Australian migration system, a successful skills assessment by TRA can be used by foreign students to support their permanent residency applications.

In the last financial year, TRA received 34,180 applications for skills assessment, about 10,000 of which were from foreign students. TRA initially accepted the documents of the students in question as genuine. But after the Federal Government received information suggesting their paperwork could be bogus, it sent letters to the students threatening to revoke their successful skills assessments if they did not prove their documents were authentic within 28 days.

More than 60 such letters have been sent to foreign students since the start of the year, with 48 sent last month alone.

The Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations, which investigates matters relating to international education refuses to say how many students have already had successful skills assessments revoked.

“Disclosing departmental actions as part of quality control and fraud measure could adversely impact on the administration of the program,” the department said in a statement to The Age.

The students are believed to be either close to the expiry of their student visas or on bridging visas. Either way, they will be expected to leave the country within 28 days if they are unable to prove their documents are genuine.

The identification of students suspected of using bogus documents follows the discovery of an alleged racket uncovered by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship in March.

Three migration agents were allegedly providing fake documentation to support permanent residency applications for foreign students based on their claimed skills in a number of occupations, including cooking, hairdressing, horticulture work and car mechanics.

Investigations are continuing into possible offences relating to forgery and migration fraud, which carry penalties of up to 10 years’ imprisonment.

Rudd told an official ceremony at Parliament House in the national capital Canberra that Football Federation Australia (FFA) had the full backing of the government to bid for the showpiece event.

“The sheer odds are tough against Australia, eight other countries, but the reason the government had got behind the bid is that we as a nation can rise behind this great bid,” Rudd said.

The premier said the chance to host a World Cup was a great opportunity for the nation.

“The challenges are great, but the prize is much greater,” he said.

“I salute those who have had the courage and the initiative and creativity to bring forth this idea.”

English Premier League stars, national skipper Lucas Neill and goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer, also spoke at the launch, urging Australians to throw their support behind the World Cup bid.

FFA chairman Frank Lowy said it would be an “unparalleled opportunity” for Australia to earn official acceptance as a World Cup host.

“On the world stage, there is no event with the same level of global appeal or audience reach as the FIFA World Cup,” the property billionaire said in a statement.

Lowy said Australia?s “secret weapon” for winning the World Cup bid was the Australian people, and Australia’s desirability as a travel destination.

“People from all over the world want to visit our country and thanks to the performance of the Socceroos at the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, as well as the many thousands of Australian fans who followed them, the rest of the world has a very positive view of us.”

Lowy also pointed to Australia’s record of hosting successful major sports events such as the 1956 and 2000 Olympic Games.

Australia are among nine bidders, along with Belgium-Netherlands, England, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, Portugal-Spain, Russia and the United States, for the 2018 World Cup.

The same nine bidders are also in the running for the 2022 World Cup, along with Qatar and South Korea.

World football governing body FIFA will announce both the 2018 and 2022 World Cup hosts in December 2010.

Australia have already qualified to play in next year’s World Cup in South Africa.

Intending visa applicants should move quickly if they wish to avoid the significant increases in Australian Visa Application Charges that come into effect on the 1st of July, 2009.

The Federal Budget was handed down last month, and included in the various Budget papers is reference to increases of 20% in VACs applicable to visas granted under the skilled migration program and the family program.

For example, the main VAC for general skilled visas is presently A$2,105. Intending skilled migrants can therefore anticipate a saving of more than $400 if they can submit a valid visa application before the end of this month (June 2009).

Cost savings of a similar sum are likely to be available to applicants for Spouse visas, Remaining Relative visas, and Business Skills visas.

It should also be noted that the requirements for the lodgment of valid visa applications are generally limited to the submission of the relevant visa application form, payment of the Visa Application Charge, and any other DIAC form as is applicable to the visa that is being applied for – plus a skills assessment classification letter where one is applying for an offshore general skilled visa.

In other words, other documentation in support of the application can be submitted later – and (we suggest) should be if a saving of more than A$400 is available.

If you are intending to move to Australia and would like to lodge your visa application quickly in an effort to save money please contact us. Go Matilda has many years of experience assisting with Australian visa applications, and can prepare application paperwork quickly in an effort to lodge a valid application so that you lock into this year’s Visa Application Charges.